Someone To Watch Over Me
by seattlegracegirl
Summary: From a prompt from Swanqueenlove - "What if Daniel had been part of Emma's life, what if somehow his spirit or something has protected her, for her entire life."
1. Chapter 1

Started as a prompt from Swanqueenlove - "What if Daniel had been part of Emma's life, what if somehow his spirit or something has protected her, for her entire life." And while I'm not sure exactly where this is going to end up, it's been hanging around my desktop long enough! A short chapter to start - before this takes on a life of its own!

Emma had always been lucky. Okay, well maybe that was an overstatement. Getting thrown through the system and being bounced from home to home wasn't exactly lucky, but out of all the situations he had been in, she'd come out of them in one piece. Yes, it was never a good thing to _almost_ be abused by your adoptive dad, but she knew a lot of kids who hadn't been so lucky. That hadn't _almost_ been abused.

It was weird, she had often thought. She had been in hundreds of situations where things _almost_ could have ended up so much worse, and every time without fail, something had happened which meant it didn't get to that stage, from a falling shelf to a wayward drunk driver hitting the drugged up waste of space trying to drag to drag her into an alleyway. It had always been that way. And she had always been grateful to whatever the hell 'guardian angel' she'd had hanging over her shoulder. Of course, she'd never say it out loud that she thought she had a guardian angel in her life, but deep down, she knew she had to.

A girl didn't manage to get though as many dances with death as she did with only a few scars without one.

Things had changed since she had been back in Storybrooke though. It wasn't that she hadn't managed to be as lucky. There were plenty times when she probably should have died. Fighting a huge dragon with a sword, for example. Managing to halt the unstoppable failsafe with Regina...

And wasn't that just the crux of it. Regina. Everything had changed since she'd met that _bewitching _woman...


	2. Chapter 2

Emma wasn't sure when she started having feelings towards Regina. She supposed it must have been somewhere between taking a chainsaw to the brunette's apple tree and getting pulled through a portal after saving the former Queen from the wraith, whatever they were.

That day, there had been no voice in her head telling her anything. It had just been her first reaction to get Regina the hell out of harm's way. It had been her first reaction to save the woman a few times. Thinking back, Emma realised, it really shouldn't have taken her so long. But then, emotional intelligence was never really her area.

It had been sitting across the campfire from her mother in Fairytale Land that realisation dawned on the blonde. Her mother had been sitting reminiscing one night. Emma supposed it was meant to bring them closer together, let her get to know her mother better. She didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't working. Listening to the way her mother spoke about Regina, and their pasts, all Emma could think, was that the woman across from her didn't know Regina at all. She knew the Evil Queen, the Mayor, the personas that Regina pulled around her like a cloak, but she didn't know Regina. Didn't seem to realise that those characters were just for show.

Finally, Emma had told her mother she had to pee, rolling her eyes at the shout of 'be careful' that followed her into the forest. She snorted. She'd be fine. Always had been. She walked a little way through the densely packed trees before coming to a halt in a small clearing. She sat with her back leaning against a tree trunk, staring up at the sky. Her mind was still filled with her mother's words. Had the woman thought she would be shocked at the event's that made up Regina's past? If that had been Snow's aim she was way off the mark.

All Emma could think was how terrified the older woman must have been. How alone. In the dark, she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

_She was terrified. She always had been, in one way or another. First from her mother, then of her husband, of Rumplestiltskin...and always, of what she was capable of. _

Emma shivered, and not because of the cold. She wished Regina was here. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate having her mother here. She was damn grateful for it, actually. The thought of being here alone was terrifying. All she wanted was to get back home. Her mother, however, seemed to think they already were.

Regina wouldn't think that, Emma knew. She would be trying everything she could to get them out of here and back to the land of indoor plumbing and their son. It wasn't only that Regina would know what to do, or at least where to start, Emma realised. She actually missed the brunette. She missed her sharp wit and her sarcastic remarks. Their little exchanges now, although still heated, didn't burn. Playful, was the word them, Emma decided.

Looking around the dark woods, a little playful banter would be welcome right about now. It would stop the thoughts of whatever monster was about to come creeping through the trees next. Deciding she had better head back to her mother before the woman came looking for her, Emma pushed herself to her feet. She tiled her head towards the sky once more, wondering, if words away, Regina was possibly thinking of her...

Shaking her head, Emma told herself not to be stupid. Of course Regina wouldn't be thinking of her. Or if she was, it would be to thank the Fates that she was gone.


End file.
